Machine for washing and cleaning mechanical parts



Feb. 16, 1965 A. L. ARNAUDIN MACHINE FOR WASHING AND CLEANING MECHANICAL PARTS Filed Jan. 20, 1964 NVE/VfoR Ant/re' l.. ARNAUD/N ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,169,538 MACHNE FOR WASHENG AND CLEANING mCHANICAL PARTS Andre Louis Amaudin, 516 Rue Bisson, Montreal,

' Quebec, Canada Filed Jan. 20, 1964,Ser. No. 338,722 4 Claims. (Cl. 134-141) The present invention relates to a machine for washing and cleaning mechanical parts by soaking and'agitating the said parts in a bath of cleaning fluid.

Such machines for the washing and cleaning of mechanical parts are generally actuated by a piston slidable in a lateral cylinder, the piston usually being moved by air pressure. The movement of the piston is then transmitted to the part carrying basket to be agitated by a complicated mechanism. It follows that the cost of such assemblies is high and that the maintenance thereof is expensive due to the rapid wear and tear of the mechanical parts. Furthermore, the agitating speed of such machines is limited due to the number of parts to be displaced and their eiciency is low.

The principle of the present invention is based on the premises that:

' (l) When a part is actuated directly, the loss of energy is less than when the part is actuated through a succession of other parts.

(2) A vertical force must be opposed by a part which acts vertically only, if wear is to be reduced.

In the machine of my invention, the piston is below the cleaning liquid reservoir and the only movement transmitting part is a rod secured to a piston on which a lluid pressure is applied. The machine is quite simple, its eciency is high, the agitation is rapid and its construction and maintenance are inexpensive.

A better understanding of the invention will be had by the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, having reference to the appended drawing, wherein:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are vertical cross-sectional views of the cleaning machine of the invention with the part holding basket shown in the low and high point of the oscillation cycle and in the part removing position, respectively.

As shown, the invention comprises a tank 1 adapted to contain a cleaning liquid 3, the tank being supported in any suitable manner such as by a plurality of vertical posts 5. The top of tank 1 is closed by a cover 7, manually pivotable to open position by means of one 'or several hinges 9 or any other suitable pivoting means.

A jack assembly 11 is mounted vertically on the bottom 13 of tank 1. Assembly 11 comprises a cylinder 15 secured, in vertical position, with the open end thereof extending through a suitable opening in bottom 13. The securement may be obtained in any suitable manner such as by providing cylinder 15 with radial anges 17 secured directly to the bottom 13 of tank 1 by such means as rivets 19. The bore of cylinder 15 denes, near the upper open end thereof, a radial shoulder 21 for the guiding of rod 23 of piston 25. The said bore of cylinder 15 is also provided, on either side of shoulder 21, with a pair of circumferential grooves 27, 29, groove 27 receiving a rubber ring 31 adapted to press on rod 23 to provide iluid tightness while groove 29 receives a packing ring 23 also to enhance fluid tightness. The packing ring is pressed in service by means of a packing gland 35. Finally, the pressure receiving end of the piston 25 is provided wi the usual cup-shaped packing ring 37 and the cylinder is closed, at that end, with a removable plug 39. As can be seen, the jack assembly is of standard construction.

A part holding basket is secured at the top end of rod 23 by any suitable means such as a screw 47 axially screwed into piston rod 23.

3,169,538 Patented Feb. 16, 1965 Basket 43 is open at the top and is of screen construction to allow free passage of the uid during agitation thereof.

A pressure uidinlet line 41 enters cylinder .15 at the bottom thereof near plug 39 whereas an outlet `iluid line 43 is provided intermediate the ends of cylinder 15 for the exitl of the pressure fluid. The position of Aline 43 depends on the desired location of Vthe stroke of the oscillatingbasket 45 in a manner to be more fully explained later.

A manually operatedV cock 49 controls the flow of fluid in line 41 whereas a manometer 51 indicates `the pressure in cylinder 15. Similarly, ow of fluid in outlet conduit or line 43 is controlled by means of a valve 53`provided g with a plug 55 reciprocable transversely of conduit 43 to allow an aperture 57, through plug 55, to move in and out of register with conduit 43 as clearly shown in FIG- URES 1 and 3 and for a purpose to be determined later. The said plug 55 is connected, through an operating rod 59 to an actuating mechanism 61 in turn associated with pivotable cover 7 whereby opening of the cover causes transverse reciprocation of plug 55 so that, as said above, aperture 57 may be placed in and out of register with conduit 43.

Actuating mechanism 61 is formed of a lever 63 pivotally mounted, intermediate the ends thereof, on a bracket 65 secured to a stationary part 8 of the top of tank 1. One end of lever 63 is loosely connected to operating rod 59 through an elongated slot whereas the other end is pivotally connected to a link 67 the other end of which is pivotally fastened to a bracket 69 fixed to cover 7.

A sleeve 71 duidtightly connected to the bottom 13 of tank 1 and to one side wall thereof serves for guiding operating rod 59 in its vertical reciprocation while at the same time preventing escape of cleaning fluid through the aperture serving for the passage of rod 59 in bottom 13.

Preferably, a rubber connector 73 joints the upper end of plug 55 to operate in rod 59 to prevent transmission of any lateral displacement of the said operating rod 59 to valve plug 55.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The parts to be cleaned are disposed in the screened basket 45 and cock 49 is open to allow pressure uid in cylinder 15 to force piston 25, and hence basket 45, upwardly from the position shown in FIG. 1 to that shown in FIG. 2. As piston 25 moves past the cylinder port of outlet line 43, a sudden drop of pressure occurs due to the escape of fluid through outlet pipe 43, it being noted that aperture 57 of plug 55 is, at that time, in register with the said outlet line 43 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

As the fluid pressure drop occurs, the weight of the piston, piston rod, basket and parts force the assembly downwards and its inertia will drive it past the cylinder opening of outlet line 43 to thus again close the said line 43. The pressure will again build up in the cylinder and force piston 25 to rise again. This cycle repeats itself continuously as long as the pressure cock 49 and valve 53 are open.

It will be appreciated that the actual position of the outlet line 43 determines the height at which the oscillation will take place in the basket but that the actual length of stroke can only be adjusted by varying the cross-sectional area of line 43: the larger the cross-sectional area, the larger the pressure drop, when the piston 25 is in the position of FIG. 2 and, consequently, the lower the basket assembly will fall back.

Whenever cover 7 is open, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the actuating mechanism 61 will cause plug 55 to move downwardly in valve 53 thus placing aperture 57 out of registry with line 43. The latter is therefore closed and piston 25 will be driven upwardly until it reaches the rubber ring 31 at which time the basket will be free from the fluid level 3 in the tank. The cleaned parts may thus be removed while the basket is in that position and the basket will remain stationary as long as the top cover 7 remains open. i

It will be understood that the actual position of basket 45 in opened position (FIG. 3) can be adjusted by varying the position of the rubber ring 31.

Many modications may be made to the above described specific apparatus while remaining within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

l. A machine for washing mechanical parts comprismg:

(a) a tank adapted to contain a liquid for cleaning the parts, said tank having a pivotable cover at the top thereof;

(b) a basket movable in saidrtank;

(c) means to move said basket into a rectilinear oscillatingv movement of predetermined stroke including a direction reversing mechanism operative when the basket has reached the upper limit of the strokeV thereof; Y l

(d) further means connecting the cover to the direction reversing mechanism capable of rendering said mechanism inoperative, when the cover is pivoted, to open position to allow the basket to move past the said upper lirnit.v

2. A'machine for washing mechanical ing:

(a) a tank adapted to contain a liquid with which the parts are to be washed and a pivotable cover mounted at the top thereof;

(b) a movable basket, in said tank, having an open top and side and bottom screened Walls to allow passage of the cleaning iluid therethrough; f

(c) a jack assembly actuated by a uid under pressure and adapted to causeV resilinear reciprocation of the basket;

parts compris- (d) a normally openv pressure tluid outlet located between theends of the cylinder to vlimit the stroke of the piston to avalue less than the length of the cylinder;

(e) a valve for opening and closing said iluid outlet,

and

(f) means connecting tne valve and the pivotable cover of the tank in such a way that the valve closes whenever the cover is pivoted to open position to thus allow the piston to overpass its oscillating stroke and travel to the end of the cylinder.

3. A machine for washing mechanical parts compris- (a) a tank adapted to contain a liquid with which the parts are to be washed;

(b) a basket having an open top and side and bottom screened walls, the basket being adapted to hold the parts to be washed and being, freely received in the tank for displacement therein; y Y

(c)k a vertical cylinder xed, at one end, to the bottom of the tank;

(d) a piston slidable in said cylinder and provided with a rod fixed to the bottom of said basket;

(e) a pressure tluid inlet at the other end of said References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,896,648 ThomasV Feb. 7, 1933 1,959,215 Owen May l5, 1934 2,724,392. Cooper Nov. 22, 1955 Bernier Apr. 10, 1956 

1. A MACHINE FOR WASHING MECHANICAL PARTS COMPRISING: (A) A TANK ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A LIQUID FOR CLEANING THE PARTS, SAID TANK HAVING A PIVOTABLE COVER AT THE TOP THEREOF; (B) A BASKET MOVABLE IN SAID TANK; (C) MEANS TO MOVE SAID BASKET INTO A RECTILINEAR OSCILLATING MOVEMENT OF PREDETERMINED STROKE INCLUDING A DIRECTION REVERSING MECHANISM OPERATIVE WHEN THE BASKET HAS REACHED THE UPPER LIMIT OF THE STROKE THEREOF; (D) FURTHER MEANS CONNECTING THE COVER TO THE DIRECTION REVERSING MECHANISM CAPABLE OF RENDERING SAID MECHANISM INOPERATIVE, WHEN THE COVER IS PIVOTED, TO OPEN POSITION TO ALLOW THE BASKET TO MOVE PAST THE SAID UPPER LIMIT. 